Are we becoming one with the royals?

Princess Anne waiting in line for a brew? Or taking the train? Whats next? The Queen will be using the stairs? Or Prince Charles will be squeezing his own toothpaste?

These actions alone prove that we are becoming one with the royals. At the end of the day we all need refreshments and to get from point A to point B. What we imbibe and how we travel to our destination isn't as important as when the royals do it. These mundane actions take on a special, magical, outerworldly glow. As if the mode of transport runs more efficiently, or the beer tastes better, or the stairs are less steep once the royals proceed forward.

Who knew that Princess Anne could get thirsty? Or that the Queen can still walk up stairs? We Canadian's aren't normally as solicitous with our own aged family members so consider Nova Scotia's concern for Her Majesty as a compliment. Yes, the Queen can walk up stairs, or downstairs, or sit or stand, or do any of the other myriad things mortals do. Did you know she even sneezes? (Spoiler alert! As do many of her family members).

We drink therefore we must be like the royals. We take the same form of transport therefore we must be like them too. At this rate,they will not have come down to us, we will have caught up to them. Ultimately, they envy and want to be like us! Otherwise, why would they make all of these person of the people moves?

Why, every day, every action you take. Right now. You, are acting like a royal. Reading? They do it too. Snacking? They get hungry as well. Watching TV? Where do you think they learn to be like us? You'd almost think we were one and the same except for the titles part.

It's a burden living an extraordinary life in ordinary circumstances. No matter how many books they may read or movies they watch, the royals can never truly appreciate our experience. Day in and day out the waking, showering, eating, working, playing and sleeping. They will never understand because we make it look effortless.

But when they try to act like us it's not a big deal.

Really, it isn't.

© Marilyn Braun 2010

The Royal Report for Sunday March 28, 2010 - The End of Hope Episode

Royal engagements are traditionally announced at the beginning of the year. With March almost at a close and no royal engagement for Prince William and Kate Middleton. A Salute to the End of Hope for a 2010 engagement.

You can listen to the episode here.

Publications mentioned

Hello! Canada Weekly No 167 29 March 2010

From My Royal Collection

The Royals by Caroline Latham & Jeannie Sakol

Blogs mentioned

World of Royalty Blog

Tune in to the next episode of The Royal Report on Sunday April 11, 2010 at 9:00PM EST (North America).

The topic will be: Crown Jewels

© Marilyn Braun 2010

Royal Roots

In recent weeks, I've become entranced with television shows about geneaology. In some of these programs, celebrities trace their heritage and are surprised and delighted to find images and documents related to their ancestors. (Queen Noor of Jordan, born plain old American Lisa Halaby, was stunned to find numerous newspaper articles about her grandfather, a turn-of-the-century immigrant merchant.)

How different it must be for princesses whose royal and aristocratic lineages are documented for generations and generations and generations. I'm sure many of them are proud of their heritage and wish to honor it (witness Princess Beatrice's brief appearance in the recent film "The Young Victoria" about her great-great-great-great grandmother), but I wonder if they are as excited to discover their roots as we ordinary folks.

Just for fun, this week, I thought I'd take you on a photo tour of Queen Elizabeth II's recent ancestors. (Generations 1-5 are wedding day pics!)

Generation 1
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Greece (The Duke of Edinburgh)

Generation 2
King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (The Queen Mother)

Generation 3
King George V and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary)

Generation 4
King Edward VII and Princess Alix of Denmark (Queen Alexandra)

Notice that the mother of the groom, Queen Victoria (seated) is staring at a bust of her late husband.

Generation 5
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg

Generation 6
Prince Edward The Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg

(I'm very conscientious about photo royalties and copyright in general, so apologies for not being able to find a usable image of the Duke but I think getting to see Baby Queen Victoria makes up for it!)

Generation 7
King George III

The Royal Report for Sunday March 21, 2010 - Is Kate Middleton a public figure?

Kate Middleton, girlfriend of Prince William, recently won a settlement from the REX photo agency for photos taken of her that invaded her privacy. Does Kate have a right to privacy? By dating Prince William, has she become a public figure?

Listen to the episode here

Publications mentioned

Hello! Canada Weekly No 166 22 March 2010

Snowdon: The Biography by Anne De Courcy

From My Royal Collection

The British Royal Family - Great Front Pages

Blogs mentioned

British Royal Wedding

Tune in live to the next episode of The Royal Report on Sunday March 28, 2010 at 9:00PM EST North America.

The topic will be: With royal engagements traditionally announced early in the year, the month of March is drawing to a close with no engagement announcement. On this episode: A salute to the end of hope for a 2010 engagement.

© Marilyn Braun 2010

Royal Review: Diana Style by Colin McDowell

I must have at least a dozen books about Diana's fashions. One dating from as early as 1985 to this one. A dearth of these books came out after the princess died in 1997 when people tried to make sense of her legacy or cash in on the timing.

In the decade or so since her death, Diana Style by Colin McDowell is one of many books commemorating her life. This one looks at Diana from a fashion perspective.Ultimately these types of book reveal nothing new, but they're still enjoyable to look at.

One thing that it most remarked about Diana was her personal appearance. Although she tried to downplay this when it came to promoting serious causes, it was an undeniable fact. She used the clothes she wore to communicate. Whether it was velvet for a visit to a school for the blind, red to convey confidence, length to respect cultural differences, or a dress with embroidered falcons to compliment the ruling house of Saudia Arabia. Her fashion choices were deliberate and flawlessly executed.

This book discusses the evolution of her style from the infamous black dress she wore to her first evening engagement prior to her marriage. To the equally infamous black revenge dress, she wore on the night that Prince Charles admitted he had committed adultery. These dresses, worn respectively in 1981 and 1994 act as bookends to her royal life. But the story does not end there, as it evolves even further to cover her fashions up to her death.

At the time of her death I believe that Diana was just coming into her own, fashion wise. Gone were the pie crust collars, veiled hats, head-to-toe outfit colors, and lacqured hair. In its place, figure flattering Versace dresses, simplier make-up and more natural looking hair. While I loved the simplicity of her later dresses, towards the end of her life, I found her face looked hard and high maintenance. Gone was the romantic, youthful freshness of her early married life. Even if some of her outfits have not stood the test of time, I still prefer the early Diana.

This book is a manual of a royal woman discovering herself and her style. It freeze frames Diana's fashions throughout her career, the good and the bad, from head to toe. While we'll never know just how Diana's fashions would have evolved, this is a good reminder of a royal style icon in the making

© Marilyn Braun 2010

Darling Baby: Beatrice's Brief Childhood

Nine children is a large family in any age. For Queen Victoria, who had prayed not to have too many children, the arrival of the ninth child might have been a less-than-delightful occasion. And yet, the birth of this child welcomed one of the brightest periods in the marriage of Victoria and her husband, Albert. Two months later, Victoria officially gave Albert the title of “Prince Consort,” finally providing him with an official role in the country he had called home for nearly two decades.

From the moment she arrived, Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, or “Baby” as she was usually called, was the darling of the family. Her nearest brother was four years older and her closest sister was nine years older—she was, indeed, the baby of the household and she was indulged in ways that her oldest siblings would never have imagined.

Both of her parents adored her. The Queen, who herself admitted that she only liked pretty children, was delighted by Baby’s big blue eyes and tiny mouth. The oldest child, Vicky, remarked that Baby was “quite the prettiest of us all, she is quite like a fairy.” Their father agreed, but also added that she was also “the most amusing baby we have had.”

As with most daddies, he was, of course, prejudiced. He could find humor in even the most annoying of Baby’s behaviors as evidenced when he wrote of the day-old princess’s wailing: “Baby practices her scales like a good prima donna before a performance and has a good voice!”

Albert was a strict father but could also be lovingly indulgent. He was certainly a more natural parent than Victoria. “It is indeed a pity that you find no consolation in the company of your children,” he once wrote to his wife, “. . . It is not possible to be on comfortable terms with people you have just been scolding.”

Baby suffered far less of Mama’s scolding: her big blue eyes and naughty charm earned more laughter than reprimands. Even when the bouncing toddler used the Queen’s apron strings to tie her to her chair, no punishments followed. The youngster was still invited down to tea and encouraged to entertain guests with songs and bits of poetry.

Once, when Baby took too much of a treat, Victoria gently reminded her, “Baby mustn’t have that. It’s not good for Baby.” To which the golden-hair pixie replied, “But she likes it my dear.”

While Beatrice showed none of the fear that characterized the relationships between her siblings and the Queen, her adoration of her father was even more apparent. She was definitely a daddy’s girl. Beatrice was born at just the right moment to earn Albert’s deep affection, for she was able to fill a hole left in his heart by the marriage of his oldest daughter, Vicky. Bright and lovely, Vicky had always been Albert’s favorite. She was more clever than any of her brothers, more lovely than any of her sisters and more responsive to the education Albert had outlined for his children. But, at 17, she was in love with the future German emperor and Albert sadly had to watch her sail away to a new life on the Continent when Beatrice as only nine months old.

Although he corresponded frequently with Vicky, her departure left plenty of time for him to indulge his prettily charming new baby. When Vicky began having children in rapid succession, Albert wrote that these infants should model themselves after their Aunt Beatrice. Baby herself delighted in being an aunt—whenever she was asked to do something she didn’t like, the three-year-old excused herself because she needed to write letters to her niece.

Baby Beatrice started most days by toddling into her father’s dressing room where she would watch him as he shaved. Then, Albert would sing to her in English and his native German and enjoy her own little songs and stories. Later, he would place her on his knee as he played piano or organ, sharing with her a love and talent for music that would be even more pronounced in her than among all of his children, each of whom was musically gifted.

At supper time, Albert would sometimes wrap Beatrice in a large napkin and swing her in the air. Even when she was naughty, he couldn’t help but chuckle at her cleverness. Once, when he scolded her for being troublesome, she replied, “No, Baby’s not. She’s a little girl.”

Each day of Beatrice’s early childhood seemed more golden than the day before: playing in the miniature house Albert had constructed, walking along the seashore of their house at Osborne, having tea with her mother on the family yacht, entertaining her brothers and sisters who rewarded her for reciting words in French.

Then, suddenly, Baby’s world turned upside down. Early in December 1861, Albert became terribly ill with typhoid. By Dec. 6, Victoria was desperate to raise his spirits and help him rally. She led the four-year-old Beatrice to his bedside. The bubbly little girl recounted her latest French verses to him and managed to make him laugh. She kissed him and held his hand for a long time before being led away so that he could rest.

It was the last time she would ever see him.

Eight nights later, the Princess was sleeping peacefully down the hall, when Albert took his final breath. Shocked and horrified, Victoria raced from his deathbed to the room where Albert’s littlest angel lay nestled in innocence, unaware of the family’s grief. Victoria gently lifted Beatrice from her bed, careful not to awaken her, and dashed back to her own room. She wrapped Beatrice in Albert’s nightshirt and placed her in the bed beside herself.

There, the restless and distraught mother awaited a dawn that would forever change her sleeping Baby’s life.

The Royal Report for Sunday March 14, 2010 - Royal Jewels

They're shiny, they're priceless, they're an object of fascination. On this episode I discuss Royal Jewels.

Listen to the episode here

Films mentioned

Royal Journey (1951)

Canada at the Coronation

From my royal collection

All about the royal family - An illustrated guide compiled and researched by Pheobe Hichens

Blog Posts mentioned

Royal Engagements

Jewels fit for a Queen

Resources used to research this episode

The Queen's Jewels - The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II - by Leslie Field

The Royal Jewels by Suzy Menkes

Tiaras a History of Spendor by Geoffrey C Munn

Queens Jewels by Vincent Meylan

Tune in live to the next episode of The Royal Report on Sunday March 21, 2010 at 9:00PM EST (North America)

The topic will be: Is Kate Middleton a public figure?

© Marilyn Braun 2010

The Royal Report for Sunday March 7, 2010 - Royal Fashions

What do King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, King Edward VIII, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana have in common? They set fashion trends.

Find out about these leaders of royal fashion by listening to this episode

Publications mentioned

Hello! Canada Weekly No 164 8 March 2010

Majesty Magazine January 2010 Vol 31 No 1

From my royal collection

Royal Style Wars - The trend setting fashion feud between the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York by Lesley Ebbetts

Resources used to research this episode

Diana The Fashion Princess Davina Hanmer & Tim Graham

Royalty in Vogue by Josephine Ross

The Princess of Wales Fashion Handbook by Sue James

Princess Diana's Maternity Fashion and Nursery Handbook by Sue James

A Family Album by The Duke of Windsor

Diana Style by Colin McDowell

The Windsor Style by Suzy Menkes

Tune in live to the next episode of The Royal Report on Sunday March 14, 2010 at 9:00PM EST (North America)

The topic will be: Royal Jewels

© Marilyn Braun 2010